When they made it back to the ziggurat, Teacher gestured for Hank to bring Mom into the center of the main chamber, the lights playing over the statues of long-dead saurians.

“Place her in the center,” Teacher said, and started weaving something with his hands. June watched as golden flames flickered around him, before they fell to the ground forming a circle around Mom. Hank passed it, but Mom…

She flinched away. It was a circle made of memories. Casual memories, deep memories, children playing, watching a sunset, even arguments. All things of life. All things that went into you.

And Mom reacted like they were some nightmare.

Maybe they are.

“You cannot hold me here!”

“No.” June said. She walked up to Mom, looking at her withered features. “Why this? You died like me—”

“And we are dead! Not like you, playing at being alive!” Mom hissed, the sound unnatural. June backed up and stared at her.

“I know we’re dead.”

“And yet you play with the temptations of the flesh. Have you lost your imaginary virginity yet?!”

Teacher tilted his head, the movement subdued under his hood. “Why could that matter?”

“Lies! Lies of the devil! This world is a lie!”

“And what is the truth?” Teacher asked. Hank and Sally moved up to stand by June. “How do you escape this world?”

“By casting away our delusions…”

June shuddered and felt Hank’s hand on her shoulder. That had been the first genuine emotion she’d heard from Mom. Joy.

“And what are those delusions?”

“Everything! Only by casting everything away can we ascend!”

“Into the fire?” June asked.

“The flames purify us, and they tie us to them so that any temptation passes us by!”

“A word, please,” Teacher said, motioning for June and the others to follow him to the far end of the chamber. Standing before the statue of a saurian with a stone club, Teacher shook his head. “You noted her words, did you not?”

“Yeah, almost like she wants to Move On.”

“Like all lies, it has a tiny kernel of truth. Only by coming to terms with ourselves may we choose to Move On, if that is our desire.”

“But forgetting?”

“That doesn’t lead to Moving On. You cannot progress through something by fleeing from it.” Teacher paused. “That’s what most of the inhabitants of Darktown tried to do.”

“And throwing everything, your memories into the fire… oh shit,” Sally said.

“What?” Dara asked.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“You’ve never tried to do it, but good memories? They have a way of sticking around, reminding yourself. A lot of people have bad memories, but going into Darktown, staying there , can be hard. There’s always the hint that if you left, you wouldn’t be so miserable. That’s why Darktown tries to keep people inside. If they leave, they might…”

“Like having a temper-tantrum in your room,” Hank said. “Then you go out for dinner and by the time you’re done, you’ve forgotten all about it.”

“But if you can just cast them away when you’re at your worst,” June frowned. “You’d be stuck there. It’s a way of ensuring you can’t change your mind.”

“And even people who might normally never go to Darktown are vulnerable.” Teacher turned to look at Mom, standing still in the circle of memories. “Because once they lost the memories, they wouldn’t be able to walk out of that room.”

June shuddered. If I was just trapped, with all my bad memories, none of the good ones with me… “And this has never happened before?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Teacher replied.

“We need to tell someone,” June said.

“Who?” Hank asked. “All the people who are still playing at being the government?” He shook his head. “You know they don’t have any real authority.”

Being A government. June shook her head. Who would you go to? She’d seen one of the Roman emperors when she’d first arrived, but they had no actual power, not beyond what people wanted to give them. After all, the Memory Lands didn’t force you to do anything to just exist. Sure, there were luxuries that you had to work for, and most people worked because of their own memories, but… if you didn’t want to you, you didn’t have to.

So why work for someone else if you didn’t want to?

Which gets back to nobody we can tell. Besides, people would probably respond in exactly the wrong way, especially given how memories worked. Making them afraid of Darktown and what it can do just makes Darktown stronger.

“There’s one other thing we have to do,” June said.

“What?” Hank asked.

“Set Mom free.”

Hank and Sally stared at her.

“You can’t do that,” Hank said. “It’s up to them.”

“Is it?” June shook her head. “Hank, you saw what that… thing was doing to them. This isn’t mom, not all the way. I’m not talking about forcing her to move on, or making her change, just showing her the memories that she tossed away.”

“That could be dangerous.” Teacher’s voice was quiet, the darkness under his hood giving no hint of his mood. “It could see you walking back to Darktown with your mother. Even if you have learned how to use your own memories, do not underestimate the power of despair.”

June stared back at her mother. “I won’t. But I have to try.”

“What’s keeping her from just leaving?” Sally asked.

“We were going to let her go anyway,” June pointed out. “But Teacher can keep the circle up while I work to help her. I’ve read how to do it.”

“Lot of people read all about flying. Didn’t make ‘em pilots,” Hank muttered.

June flapped her hands in an irritated gesture. “Look, I know it’s dangerous. But as irritating as she is, that’s Mom. I owe her the chance, and since Dad isn’t here anymore…”

“We could—”

Teacher cut Sally off. “No. June is the only one with here a personal connection with her mother. Her mother bore her, helped her say her first words. Neither you nor I can assist her in this.”

Hank shook his head. “June, you know that after you’re dead is normally a bit safer than this.”

“Maybe my life was just a little too boring,” June replied. “How do we do this?” She asked Teacher.

“First, we must create an outer circle.” Teacher started walking towards Mom. “And while we are doing that, I will explain what else needs to be done.”

“Right.” June nodded.

----------------------------------------

It didn’t take long to build the outer circle, like the inner circle, forged of memories of life, joy, just the lived experiences every person accumulated before they came to the Memory-Lands. Teacher contributed some memories, as always, oddly diverse.

If he was a human, he must have travelled everywhere, June thought as she added some of her own memories, careful not to dig too deep and pull them away from herself.

Mom didn’t say anything, just glared at the two of them. Finally, the outer circle was completed. Teacher, Sally, and Hank stood behind June, staring at the gleaming lines in the obsidian floor.

“It is time.” Teacher said.

“Yeah.” June bit her lip and glanced over at her friends. “I’ll be done as quickly as I can.”

“Be careful,” Hank said. “And remember that we’re your friends.”

“Right.” Not just a sentiment. Not here. My friends are my anchors.

Careful to not damage the symbols Teacher had drawn, June stepped over the outer circle. Mom just stared at her. June looked back at her friends, took a deep breath, and then looked at her mother.

“Time to talk, Mom.” And with that, she broke the inner circle.